Courage
by The Mighty Penguin Lass
Summary: Roark is reunited with a childhood friend, and decides to accompany her on her Pokemon journey. The only problem is, she's almost too afraid to battle. Can he help her find the strength to be more than just a trainer? RoarkxOC later on. Rated for safety.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi, everyone! Penguin Lass here, brining you my first ever Pokemon fic! I've been thinking about this fic for quite a while, since I got Pearl in May. There will be POV changes, but you'll know when it changes, trust me!_

_Just to warn you: I'm a closet fangirl. Don't kill me for it._

_That being said, let's get this fic on! _

* * *

**Chapter 1:** A Chance Encounter

* * *

[Roark's POV 

I've always wanted to travel around and see Sinnoh and all its glory, but I also knew it would be a bad idea. I mean, not only am I a Gym Leader and the safety supervisor of the Oreburgh mine, I... Well... Couldn't navigate myself out of a paper bag.

Okay, okay. It's not that funny.

As you can probably imagine, doing the _same exact thing_ day in and day out gets pretty boring after a while. Nothing interesting really happens in a mine, aside from the occasional fossil someone digs up. That's really the only thing I look forward to, really. Even my Gym battles had kind of sucked.

I never expected to be hit square in the face with an opportunity to leave my normal life and do something exciting while I was doing my job (jobs, whatever.).

It all started when I was born...

...I'm kidding. Seriously.

It really started one cool autumn afternoon (and by "cool" I mean "it was tolerable outside and freaking _cold_ in the mine"). I was doing my usual patrol around the mine, making sure everything was going smoothly. I would occasionally stop and glance over my coworkers' shoulders to see if they had anything interesting.

Coal, coal, random evolution stones, coal, more coal... The usual.

"Hey, is that it?" I asked one of the guys (whose name still eludes me to this day) when I stopped next to him. He just nodded and made this grunting noise as he continued his work.

Now, I wouldn't normally admit this, but I sometimes wished that something exciting would happen in this otherwise increasingly boring mine.

And damn, did that wish come true. All of a sudden a loud _CRASH_ echoed through the tunnels, followed by and even louder, feminine cry.

Needless to say, that caught my attention, and I found myself running in the direction I heard the sounds coming from. However, due to my poor navigation skills (and the fact that I was in a rush), I crashed into a few walls on the way. Turned a corner, ran a bit, turned another, missed the corner completely and _BAM!_ Hello wall.

Again, it's not that funny.

Anyway, after about a minute or two of that, I stopped for a second and realized that I didn't really have an idea of where I needed to be. I figured I'd just keep going until ended up there, but before I could even take two steps a Pikachu came out of scenic _nowhere_ and nearly knocked me on my ass.

In case you didn't know, seeing a Pikachu in mine is not exactly a common occurrence. And the poor thing looked so panicked too. Maybe I could calm him down...

"Hey little guy," I said softly, kneeling down so I was closer to its eye level (that helps calm a Pokemon down, you know). "What's the matter?"

He looked at me for a moment, then started tugging at my pants leg and pointing in front of him.

"Pipika! PIKACHU!"

Now, I don't speak Pikachu (or any other Pokemon for that matter), but I was pretty sure that he wanted me to follow him. Of course, being the dork that I am, I had to drag the "conversation" out further.

"You want me to follow you?" I asked him. After that, I completely expected him to run away so I could, but instead he climbed up onto my shoulder and kept pointing.

"Pipika!"

To be perfectly honest, I didn't know what to make of the situation. But there was a corridor turning left a few yards ahead, so I figured I'd just go that way and hope that's where the Pikachu wanted me to be.

I can only imagine how stupid the look on my face was when I turned that corner (without crashing into it, mind you. My navigation skills aren't _that_ bad.). I mean, how would you react if you turned into a huge cavern filled with a bunch of terrified coal miners trying to fend off one very disgruntled Steelix? A Steelix, by the way, that I had never seen in the four years I've worked in this mine.

Yeah. That's what I thought.

So anyway, I ran toward a small group of workers, who were tending to their injured Pokemon.

"Hey," I questioned one of them, "What the heck happened?" He looked up from his beat-up Zubat (not to be rude, but who the hell uses a _Zubat_ against a _Steelix_?) for a second, then let out a sigh.

"A rookie trainer came looking to challenge you," he said, motioning toward a girl who was huddled in a corner and covering her eyes in fear. "She must have angered it or... something."

I looked toward the girl and moved to try to calm her down, but the Pikachu that was previously on my shoulder beat me to the punch and rushed over to her. It suddenly clicked in my head that he must belong to her. I smiled at how worried Pikachu was about his trainer, though my attention was quickly diverted to the Steelix, which was headed _straight for all of us_.

Well, damn.

After that, I didn't bother thinking, I just acted. I reached into my back pocket, took out a PokeBall, and (what a surprise) threw it into the air.

"Go, Rampardos!" Cue burst of light and said Pokemon appearing within the light.

Ah, my Rampardos. My most trusted partner, and my closest friend. I could ramble on about him all day, but I'll spare you the ego trip.

"Use Zen Headbutt!" I called out, and Rampardos leapt at the Steelix, his head glowing with a faint bluish aura. He collided with his opponent with enough force to throw the iron snake off balance for a minute, which was about 56 seconds more than I needed.

"Now, follow up with Flamethrower!" And with that, a blaze of red hot flames burst from Rampardos' mouth, engulfing the Steelix in a fiery torrent of pain. The massive Pokemon roared before falling to the ground, the impact causing a loud _THUD_ and a slight rumble of the earth. Everyone in the mine cheered, as if I had just defeated something that threatened humanity's very existence.

It's nice to feel appreciated for once.

After returning Rampardos to his ball, I walked up to the girl and kneeled down in front of her. Her Pikachu looked at me with curious eyes as I gently shook her shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked softly. She sniffed and nodded a little as she wiped the tears away from her eyes.

"Y-yeah..." She replied as she slowly stood up and brushed the dirt off of her clothes. "I'm just wicked afraid of Steelix, ya know?"

My reply was a half-laughing "It's understandable. They are pretty big, and ferocious-looking." When I had finished, she turned toward me, which gave me a chance to get a good look at her.

She looked about seventeen, with short, layered black hair and shoulder-length pink bangs. She was kind of short, too, not much taller that five feet or so. What caught me off guard was her face, more importantly her green eyes and how they stared intensely at me through her black-rimmed glasses. There was something... familiar about it.

After what seemed like hours of us just staring at each other (I found out later that it was only about ten seconds) and her Pikachu making random noises at our feet, she finally broke the silence.

"Zapdos?"

Zapdos. Only two people had _ever_ called me that. An old friend from my childhood, someone I hadn't seen for nearly seven years, and my father during said childhood because he thought it was funny. Ruling out her being my father (anyone who thought that needs to be beaten with a large, blunt object _right now.)_, I figured the odds of her being my friend were slim to none, as she had moved to Hoenn and we had completely lost touch. But I figured, 'Hey, what the hell. I'll take a chance.'

"Ashura?"

Awkward silence, awkward silence, awkward silence...

"OH MY GOD!"

Just so you know, we both said that last part.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:** A Promise and a Battle

[Ashura's POV

Holy wow. Just... Holy _freaking_ wow. I never thought I'd see Roark again. Hell, the last time I even spoke to him was before I moved to Hoenn, and that was when I was ten years old (seven years ago.). But there he was, plain as day and a good six inches taller than me (though that last bit is slightly irrelevant. Only slightly though.).

"Ashura?" He asked, with more excitement in his voice than questioning. "Ashura, is it really you?"

I laughed. "Well, if I'm not, I've been brainwashed and thought I was for the past seven years."

After that, he pulled me into one of those hugs that could snap your spine in half if you try to break free. So I just waited it out as he rambled on about... well, everything.

"God, Ashura, where have you been? Well, that's stupid to ask because I know you moved to Hoenn, but still why didn't you ever call or e-mail me or anything to let me know you were alive? I was worried! I thought you got eaten by some kind of vicious volcano monster or something like that! Well enough about that, how are you?"

"I'd be a lot better if you'd stop trying to break me in half..." I replied, cringing.

"What? Oh, sorry." He laughed sheepishly as he released me. He then proceeded to do the typical anime 'Heh... sorry about that' pose. Like when the person laughs a bit and rubs the back of their head (sweatdrop optional). You know the one. And let me tell you, it was good to see he hadn't lost his signature dorky adorableness (because that's definitely a word.).

"So anyway..." I began, only to be cut off by Squeaks (my Pikachu) tugging at my pants leg.

"Pipika... Chuuu..."

Now, I could tell what he wanted, and truthfully I was feeling the same thing. I also didn't want to be rude, so I quickly told Roark that we "really had to be going" and began to walk away (in retrospect, I guess that was pretty rude too...).

"If you guys are hungry, you're welcome to come to my place!" he called, as if he had read our minds (and stomachs). This instantly caused me to run back and tackle-hug him, with Squeaks following close behind. I rapidly (almost spastically) thanked him over and over, until oxygen became somewhat of a problem and I had to stop to catch my breath.

"Okay then." He laughed as he allowed me to stable myself on the ground. He smiled warmly, and led the way out of the mine and into Oreburgh City.

It took us about twenty minutes to get to his apartment, but when he unlocked the door and showed me inside, I was more or less surprised. For a guy who's only nineteen years old, he sure has a nice place.

"Damn, Roark, this place is..." I couldn't think of the right words, but that could have been caused partly by my fascination with his Nintendo Wii...

He shook his head. "It's not that great." He argued calmly. "Especially since the lights are messed up and the roof leaks every time it rains." He paused for a moment. "And no, you can't have it."

Damn it. There he was again, reading my mind. Though I knew in the back of my semi-functional mind that he wouldn't give up a Wii.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I replied, walking away from his video games. "So... How about that food?"

He laughed, and walked over to his fridge to begin to sift through it. "Well, there's not much in here... How about ramen?" Needless to say, that made me even hungrier and I nodded in quick approval.

A few minutes later, after we were situated with our food and he had given Squeaks a big bowl of Pokemon food (I don't see why Roark wouldn't let me give the little guy some ramen, he loves it.), we started up some casual conversation. You know, the weather, what we've been up to since I moved, stuff like that. That eventually led us to an interesting topic.

"Say Roark..." I said in between slurps of noodles, "Remember that promise we made when we were kids?" The look he gave me in return made it glaringly obvious that he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.

Oh boy, explaining things was never my strong point...

"You know, that we'd... uh... travel together... when we got older and became Pokemon trainers?" I got a less confused look out of him then. Score one for me.

"Yeah, I think I remember that..."

I smiled. It's sorta satisfying to know that a friend that you haven't seen in years, who just happens to have the memory span of a tree stump (kidding, I'm kidding), remembers a promise you made when you were ten. Especially when you yourself had suffered so much brain damage that you can't even recall what you had for breakfast.

I'm kidding about the breakfast (thought I'd say brain damage, huh?) part. Seriously.

"You know, I'm still holding you to that." I said with a slight chuckle in my voice. I wholly expected him to, you know, smile and nod like he knew already and was okay with it. But instead, I got one of those anxious, 'Um... about that...' looks.

"Um... about that..."

See? What'd I tell ya?

"What?" was my quick response. "What's wrong?"

He sighed one of those disappointed sighs that I'm used to getting. "You see... I can't exactly leave, with my job at the mine and all."

That struck me as a bit off. I mean, they could find someone to take his place for a while, right? ...Or maybe I'm just naïve.

"Well..." he continued, "I-it's not like they couldn't find someone else to handle the mine for a while..."

"Then what's the problem?"

Another sigh. I was getting really tired of him doing that, really fast. "It's just... I'd need someone to look after the Gym while I was gone."

"The Gym? What does that have to do with you? I mean, isn't that old guy the Leader?" At least, he was the last time I checked. Then again, I lived in freaking _Hoenn_ (which, for those of you who don't know, is in the tropics, unlike Sinnoh and its northern coldness) for the past seven years. What the hell do I know?

"Not anymore."

"Then who...?"

Then it hit me, like some kind of brick-filled plush doll (it's not really plushy if you put it that way, but whatever) was dropped out of a fifth-story window and onto my head.

"No way..." I said quietly, staring at him.

"W-what?" he stuttered. His tone and expression seemed almost as surprised as I actually was.

"_You're_ the _Gym Leader_?" That provoked a nod out if him. "But... How? Since _when_?"

"About two years or so."

He proceeded to explain how it all happened. Apparently, the original Leader of the Oreburgh City Gym died (or retired, I can't remember which.), a bunch of stuff happened, and that eventually led to Roark becoming Oreburgh's new Gym Leader (I don't remember all the details. Leave me alone.).

Saying all this was a shock to me would be the understatement of the decade. I mean, I leave for a little while (oh look, another understatement) and Roark goes from a slightly oblivious newbie trainer with a Cranidos to a full-fledged Gym Leader.

Well, whadda'ya know.

I just kinda sat there for a moment after hearing all that, taking it in and trying to calm down a bit in the process.

"So..." I began after my nerves settled down a bit, "That means I'm gonna have to battle... You..."

Sure, Roark and I had battled before, but we were just kids then. You know, battling just for the fun of it, not to see who could win or which of us was better. But just the thought of having to battle against him _competitively_ just seemed... kind of weird to me.

"Apparently." he replied, and his voice seemed to trail off as he did.

The entire moment was the embodiment of awkward, as we both just kind of sat there and looked at everything but each other.

"So..." He said, probably just as a way to break the increasingly awkward silence. "Uh... It's getting kind of late..."

I looked outside and noticed it was dark, then caught a glimpse of the nearest clock as I turned back to face him. 8:53. Wow. How long had we been talking?

"Y-yeah, I guess." I replied, with the odd feeling still somewhat present in my voice. "So what?"

"Well..." I could hear the hesitation in his voice as he continued. "The Pokemon Center is on the other side of the city, and it's dangerous to walk alone at night... So, uh, I was thinking that... Maybe you should... stay... here..."

I looked at him. Just... looked. I couldn't find any words to say, even though I had no idea why. I mean, it's not like he said anything weird, he was just worried about my safety. Nothing more. Right? Right.

"W-what?" he asked, confusion present in his voice.

Now, I don't know exactly why (wow, I'm incredibly good at not knowing things), but that reminded me of something. Something important.

"Um... Roark? Where's Squeaks?"

Apparently that had clicked in his head as well, because he began to look around as soon as I stopped talking. I followed his example, and after a quick survey of the room, I found my Pokemon.

"Roark, look." I said quietly, pointing across the room. There Squeaks was, curled up and asleep at the end of my friend's couch.

Now, if that wasn't the cutest thing I had ever seen, I don't know what is.

"Looks like I will be staying here tonight."

He smiled one of those 'That's a relief' smiles, then walked off into his room. He came back a minute later with a blanket and a spare pillow, and handed them to me.

"Thanks..." I said as I tried to suppress a yawn. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly work, and Roark noticed all too quickly.

"Get some sleep." he said with a slight chuckle in his voice. "You'll need plenty of energy for tomorrow."

"R-right." was my quiet reply. I knew what he meant, and it still seemed weird to me.

He turned away from me and walked back toward his room, but before he entered, he stopped for a second.

"I'm looking forward to battling you tomorrow..." He said, his voice barely audible. And with that, he walked through his doorway and out of my line of sight.

I stood there dumbly for a minute, before another yawn snapped me back into reality. I shook it off as I walked over to the couch. I accidentally woke Squeaks up when I went to lay down, but he quickly got over it and fell back asleep at my feet.

Well, least my Pokemon could sleep, because I sure as hell couldn't. Too much was going on in my head, but what bothered me the most was tomorrow's battle. Something about going all out in a battle against Roark just didn't settle with me. It wasn't something I wanted to do, but it would have to be done. My life's dream depended on it.

Dreams are such complex affairs...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:** Wake Up and Battle Already!

[Roark's POV

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you can't tell if it's real or... well, a dream? Waking up from dreams like that had always annoyed me, especially when the cause of my awakening (man, that sounds like something out of some cheesy fantasy... thing.) was the annoying _weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh_ sound of my alarm ringing at 6:15 in the morning.

But for some reason, I couldn't remember hearing that earsplitting noise when I drifted into my usual, half-asleep morning daze. I quickly dismissed it as one of those 'Whatever, couldn't care less' situations, because I sometimes turn the thing off in my sleep. As I sat up and began to fumble around for my glasses, I caught a glance at that infernal clock.

Hm... 8:30...

8:31...

Cue clever visual metaphor used to personify the concept of someone being hit with the realization that they should have been up _over two hours ago_. (If you didn't understand that, just imagine a giant boulder with the word "REALIZATION" chiseled into it being dropped on my head.)

Within half a second of my mind screaming "YOU'RE DEFINATLY NOT DREAMING, YOU DOLT." at me, my simple little 'fumble around for my glasses' action turned into a spastic 'SHITSHITSHIT WHERE ARE THEY' flail-type thing as I lost my balance and plunged head first onto the floor. The funny thing is, they fell off the little table next to my bed and onto my head about three seconds after my face smashed into whatever it was that just happened to be in that exact spot on the floor (oh, the irony.).

After about a minute of just laying there, face down on what I later found out was my pair if steel-toed boots (painful...) and cursing my usually nonexistent clumsiness, I sat up and slid my glasses onto my face. Then after another minute of just sitting there wondering what fate had in store for me if my day was already going this bad, I noticed something odd.

The distinct scent of breakfast-type foods was present in the air.

Now, that normally doesn't happen unless I'm actually in my kitchen making said foodstuffs. So, needless to say, that raised a red flag in my head and I proceeded to quickly throw on some regular clothes and rush through my doorway.

I remembered 'Oh yeah, Ashura's here' when I saw her standing in front of my stove, cooking what smelled like scrambled eggs.

"Mornin'." She said, turning around and smiling. "I made you breakfast." She used the spatula in her hand to point to a plate on the table containing typical breakfast food. You know, scrambled eggs, toast, and the like.

"No offense, Ashura..." I said, laughing slightly as I sat down. "But last I checked, your cooking was borderline radioactive."

"I was ten the last time you sampled my cooking." She replied. "Just eat it." Her voice had a kind of stern-but-still-somewhat-polite tone as she fixed herself a plate and sat down across from me. I kinda just looked at the food for a second, until she gave me one of those looks that says either 'Eat it or die' or 'Try it... I don't think it'll be _that _bad'. Once I saw her begin eating, I decided I had nothing to lose (except maybe the proper function of some of my organs) and did so as well. After I took a few bites, she looked at me with the most eager look I had ever seen.

"Well?" she asked, her words oozing the distinct 'please tell me it doesn't taste like crap' tone.

I swallowed, then let out one of those content sighs. "...Marry me."

She gave me one of those horrified, 'What the hell?!' looks and just stared at me for a few seconds after that.

"You can cook." I clarified. "That's one of the best qualities for a girl to have in my opinion."

For a good minute we just stared at each other, caught in the awkwardest (I don't care if that's not a word...) of silences, until we both just kind of exploded into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" I said in between gasps for air. "_Priceless!_"

"Well _excuse me,_ princess! Had you not had such a serious look on _your_ face, I wouldn't have believed you!" she replied, as she also tried to breathe properly.

After that little laugh fest, we proceeded across the city toward my Gym, and after about 15 minutes walked through its automatic sliding doors (god, I never tired of those when I was a kid. Something about them just fascinated me...). I said hi to Ian, my referee, and caught the slightest hint of a grin as he greeted me back.

"Couldn't get enough of that beauty sleep of yours, could you, Roark?" he asked half-jokingly. I laughed a bit as I began to explain why I was late (my alarm not going off for one, and I didn't get much sleep to begin with...). I stopped though, because I noticed him looking around me and at Ashura, who just waved shyly at him with one of those 'I have no idea who you are, please stop looking at me' looks on her face.

"Oh, right. Ian, this is-" I began, before he cut me off with one of those laughs people do when they realize something that only they would find humorous.

"So, you finally scored, huh?" he asked, grinning as he calmed himself. I instantly felt my face heat up and turn a color similar to that of a tomato, and I could tell by the squeaky gasp-type noise she made that Ashura's did the same.

"No! That's not... I, uh... No!" I protested, fumbling for words that just didn't want to come out. I looked at Ashura (whose face was getting redder by the second), then at Ian, then back at Ashura for a decent amount of time, until my brain finally decided to function properly and allow me to speak in complete sentences.

"Ashura's just here for a Gym battle..." I said. He opened his mouth to say something (most likely a smart-ass comment that I _really_ wasn't in the mood to hear), but I cut him off. "Just... Come do your job." That provoked a silent nod out of him, and the three of us proceeded to our spots at the arena.

"This will be an official Oreburgh City Gym battle between Roark, the Leader, and Ashura, the challenger." Ian began, the way he always does (and has to) before all my battles. "The battle will end when all three of either trainer's Pokemon are unable to battle. In addition, only the challenger may substitute Pokemon."

"Ready, Ashura?" I called as Ian finished his statement.

"I-I guess..." she replied, and I could tell just by the tone of her voice that she had never been in a serious battle before.

"Begin!" Ian shouted.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: I've never written any kind of battle scene before, so please don't jump down my throat about it if it sucks._

* * *

**Chapter 4:** Battle in the Oreburgh Gym!

* * *

"Go, Geodude!" I shouted as my Pokemon appeared in the typical flash of light.

"Alright, um... I choose Squeaks!" Ashura said with slight hesitation. I grinned expectantly as her Pikachu appeared out of a Quick Ball (or whatever those blue-and-yellow PokeBalls are called).

"Interesting choice." I replied. "You have the first move!"

"Alright, then..." She hesitated a bit before she called for Squeaks to use Quick Attack, which left me a bit baffled as to why she would use a Normal-type attack against a Rock-type. That feeling quickly vanished when I saw the small Pokémon's speed, he was practically invisible. I, of course, was prepared for such an action.

"Geodude, stay calm!" I called out, though I didn't really have to. I could tell he was doing what I was; trying to figure out when and where his opponent was going to strike. After a short moment, I caught a glimpse of the yellow Pokemon.

"To the right!" Geodude responded quickly, and stopped Squeaks in his tracks by forcefully grabbing his small body. "Now toss him up!"

Ashura gasped, obviously surprised with my strategy. But I couldn't wait to see the look on face when she saw my next attack...

"Use Rollout and hit him while he's airborne!" My Pokemon swiftly curled himself into a ball and used a nearby rock to launch himself into the air toward his opponent. This was (and still is) among my favorite strategies to use, as no Pokemon has ever avoided it.

"Use Brick Break to intercept and deflect him back!"

...Well, I never said nobody's ever countered it...

As soon as Geodude was about to impact with Squeaks, the little yellow Pokemon slammed him down with his short (yet extremely powerful) arms. My Pokemon crashed into the ground as the electric mouse on one of the rocks sticking out of the arena.

"Geodude!" I called as my partner somewhat shakily brought himself up from the small crater he made. He shook it off rather quickly, and I smiled. "Good job! Now use Hidden Power!" I couldn't help but grin when Geodude released a barrage of glowing orbs that impacted with the rock Squeaks was standing on, causing the little Pokemon to be caught in a mini explosion of sorts... Okay, maybe 'explosion' isn't the right word... But it was shiny and went KABOOM. Yeah. You get the idea.

Anyway, the explosion or what have you sent Squeaks flying into another rock. I heard him let out a loud cry in pain before he fell to the floor, completely knocked out from the impact.

"Pikachu is unable to battle!" Ian shouted. "Geodude is the winner!"

"Return, Squeaks..." Ashura said quietly, as her Pokemon was returned to his ball. "You did well... I'm proud of you." She smiled warmly.

"I can't wait to see what you've got up your sleeve now." I said, which apparently snapped her back into reality and caused a somewhat surprised "Oh!" to escape her. She put Squeaks' ball away and pulled out another, all white ball in its place.

"Go, Xell!" she called, as a Ralts appeared in a flash of red light.

"Another interesting one..." I commented. "I've never been in a battle with a Ralts before."

"Well, you're about to find out what it's like, I guess." She replied with a smile. However, that smile quickly faded into a more serious, awkward-yet-still-somewhat-determined look. "Show them _your_ Hidden Power, Xell!"

What I wholly expected to be an attack of about the same magnitude of Geodude's Hidden Power was, in fact, a whole lot more powerful. I didn't have the time to tell my Pokemon to dodge, so I was left to just stand there and watch as he was bombarded with the same glowing green orbs he had used to pretty much blow up his opponent just moments before. The attack whipped up a large cloud of dust, and once it all cleared, I saw my partner laying face down on the floor.

"Geodude! Are you alright?" I called. I saw him struggle to get up before he just kind of flopped over again, unconscious.

I saw Ian blink in amazement before he announced the status of my Pokemon. I returned Geodude to his ball, silently praising him for his efforts, and looked at Ashura.

"That was a pretty powerful attack!" I said, which made her blush a bit. I smiled at her reaction and took out another PokeBall. "But back to business... Go, Onix!" I heard her yelp when she saw the massive rock snake appear before her and Xell. I could tell that she was still terrified of him, even after all this time.

"Uh... Uh..." she stuttered. "X-Xell, use Hidden Power again!" she said, the fear evident in her voice.

"Dodge it, Onix!" I called, and he easily snaked out of the way of the oncoming attack (oooh, bad pun...). The Hidden Power collided with the rock that was behind him, causing yet another shiny explosion.

I have to admit, none of my previous Gym battles had ever been this... explodey (Yeah. Explodey. That's definitely a word.). But I didn't let that faze me. "Use Double-Edge!" I called. Onix began to glow as he charged toward his opponent at full speed.

Ashura blinked. "Double-EdOH SHIT XELL USE PROTECT." She called, with a mixture of confusion and panic in her tone. Her small white Pokemon quickly formed a protective barrier around himself, just before Onix would have collided with him. The barrier sent Onix bouncing back a bit, but he shook it of quickly.

"Now, use Stealth Rock!" I said, not giving Ashura any time to think. It's how I keep up the pressure, I guess. Anyway... Where was I...? Oh yeah. I love Stealth Rock. Best move ever. Takes care of any Pokemon substitutions my opponent plans on making before they happen. It's pretty sweet. So yeah...

Pointed stones flew toward Xell and planted themselves in the ground around him. That didn't seem to have much of an effect on Ashura, though. Probably because she had no idea what it did.

"Xell, use Future Sight!"

That left me kind of lost. Mainly because I had never battled against a Pokemon that used that move and I had no idea what it did. But after Xell had stopped glowing with this magenta-purple color, I silently deemed the attack a failure and ordered Onix to use Rock Throw. Xell was pummeled by rocks that were at least the size of him, and it left him pretty beat up.

"You didn't think I was gonna go easy on you, did you?" I asked Ashura. I must have sounded kind of cocky, because she glared at me.

"Of course not." She said, though I heard her sigh deeply as Xell struggled to stand up.

"Alright, then. Finish it off with Double-Edge, Onix!" I shouted.

"Use Destiny Bond!"

It kind of startled me when I saw the Ralts glowing with a dark, nearly black, purple aura. That didn't stop Onix, as he collided with Xell shortly after. The impact sent the small Pokemon flying before he skidded against the ground. It was too much for him, and he lay there, knocked out.

"Ralts is unable to battle! Onix is−" Ian began, before he was interrupted by Onix letting out a loud roar. We all watched as Onix came crashing down onto the ground with a loud THUD.

"What the−?" I said, shocked as Onix lay there in an unconscious heap on the ground. "What just happened?"

"It was Destiny Bond..." Ashura said quietly. "When a Pokemon uses Destiny Bond, its opponent faints when it does..."

I blinked. That was clever. Very, very clever. As we both returned our Pokemon to their balls, Ashura let out a sigh. I thought I heard her whisper "I should just give up now..." but I couldn't exactly tell because she was so quiet. But, if my hunch was right... Well, let's just say there was no way in hell I'd let her give up. This was one of the most interesting battles I'd ever had, and I didn't want it to end just yet.

"You better not be thinking of forfeiting." I called. "Because if you are, I'll never let you live it down."

She stood there for a second before quickly shaking her head. "N-no..." she said quietly. She waited until I took out my last PokeBall and then did the same. Even from a distance I could tell it was no ordinary one. It was a Luxury Ball, and if I remembered correctly, that could only mean one thing: she was about to release her signature Pokemon, a Sneasel that I knew had only gotten stronger since we were kids.

"Veera, let's go!" she shouted, and her Pokemon appeared in a flash of gold light. What the light revealed, however, wasn't a Sneasel, but a Weavile.

Well, I was half right.

"So, she finally evolved, huh?" I said, smiling. But that smile quickly turned into a grin. "But she's not the only one! Go, Rampardos!"

I was quickly reminded of how alike Ashura and Veera were when they both wore the same confused "WAIT A MINUTE WHAT?" look on their face. Ashura's look only got worse when the Stealth Rock took its toll on Veera. When the dust from it cleared, I saw the Weavile shake it off before making a determined face. That seemed to put Ashura in higher spirits, which in turn made me want to continue battling even more. But before either of us could give a command to our Pokemon, this mass of purple energy literally came out of nowhere and nailed Rampardos right in the side of the head. He looked a bit shaken, but he shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"Okay, okay. Hold on a second." I said. "What was that?"

Ashura smiled at this. "Future Sight." She replied. "It may not seem to do anything when the attack is first executed, but later in the battle..." I swear I heard her laugh a bit, but I ignored it as it seemed extremely uncharacteristic of her. "Well, I think you saw what it does."

Wow. Just when I thought I had her, she was already a step ahead of me. That doesn't happen too often. I must have been dwelling on that for a bit, because her call of "Attack with Brick Break!" snapped me back into reality.

"Dodge, and use Flamethrower!" I said. Rampardos almost didn't make it away, and Veera's claws still grazed his leg a bit. That didn't stop him, and he unleashed red hot flames that surged toward his opponent.

"Cut through the Flamethrower with Night Slash, then use Brick Break again!" Ashura called.

I have to admit, that Weavile was fast. She ran headlong into the flames, slicing through them at the last minute and protecting herself from harm. Once the flames had dispersed she quickly jumped up and slammed her fist (Claws? Arm? Whatever, you know what I mean...) into Rampardos' head, then used the spikes on the sides of his head as a sort of springboard to launch herself into the air again. She did a back flip mid-air, then landed silently atop a nearby rock.

That was all in a span of about 5 seconds, by the way.

"Rampardos, are you alright?" I called. He looked beat up and a bit dazed, but he nodded and let out a determined growl. I smiled. "Awesome! Now use Zen Headbutt!" My Pokemon charged toward his opponent, his head glowing blue like it always does when he uses that attack.

"Veera, stand your ground!" Ashura called. The Weavile quickly grabbed Rampardos' head spikes and stopped him in his tracks. Ashura then grinned a bit. "You do know that a Psychic-type attack like Zen Headbutt has no effect on a Dark-type like Veera, right?" she asked me.

"Looks like you know your type matchups." I said. Then I put on a grin of my own. "But what if I told you I wasn't trying to do any damage with that particular attack?" She gave me a completely baffled look, and my grin only got wider. "Use Flamethrower!"

Ashura let out a surprised squeaky gasp-type noise when the Flamethrower hit Veera dead on. The attack sent her flying back, and she skidded to a stop about an inch before she would have hit a nearby rock.

"Veera! Are you okay?" Ashura called. Her Pokemon staggered to her feet, then put on a determined look. Ashura smiled. "Great! Now use Night Slash!"

"Dodge it!" I shouted, and Rampardos quickly sidestepped Veera's attack. "Now get behind her and use Flamethrower again!"

"Use Pursuit!" Ashura yelled. Veera quickly obeyed and was almost instantly behind my Pokemon. She hit him hard on the side of his body, which interrupted his attack and knocked him onto his back. I made note of Veera breathing heavily as Rampardos stood up slowly. I could tell he was as tired as she was.

"It's about time I ended this!" I said. "Use Head Smash!"

"We'll see about that!" Ashura replied. "Veera, use Ice Punch!"

Our Pokemon charged at each other at full speed. Their attacks collided at the center of the arena, the impact sending both of them flying back. They both landed with a loud THUD.

"Rampardos!"

"Veera!"

We both watched as our respective Pokemon staggered to their feet. They both stood there for a second, breathing heavily, before Rampardos fell to the ground.

"Rampardos is unable to battle! Weavile is the winner!" Ian shouted. "Victory goes to the challenger!"

Ashura blinked. "...We did it...?" she asked in disbelief. Then she broke out into a wild grin. "We did it!" She laughed as Veera ran and tackle-hugged her (I know there's a word for that... I think it starts with a G...).

I couldn't help but laugh a bit as well as I watched them. No one has ever been that excited to have defeated me. It was kind of funny. Ashura seemed to calm down a bit as I approached her.

"That was an awesome battle." I said with a smile.

"...Really?" she asked. "I figured you'd've had ones a lot more interesting than this."

I shook my head. "No way. You had me fighting for my life right down to the last second." I said as I handed her my Gym's badge. "You really deserve this."

She thanked me and smiled, then looked down at the badge intently.

"What's wrong?" I asked after a somewhat awkward silence.

She looked up at me. "...It looks like a retarded quarter."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:** Stubborn, aren't we?

Ashura's POV

After my Gym battle with Roark (and my expertly placed comment about how his Gym's badge looks like a brain-damaged piece of currency), we stood in the lobby of the Gym for a few minutes arguing about me getting to the Pokemon Center on my own. I told him over and over that I would be fine, but he kept insisting that I let him escort me there because he had a feeling my "horrible sense of direction" hasn't improved since we were kids. I eventually won him over, and we soon found ourselves saying some of the happiest good-byes anyone could ever imagine.

"You're not gonna go and disappear for seven years again, right?" he asked, half-jokingly, as he ruffled my hair. I quickly swatted his hand away and playfully stuck my tongue out at him. And if that's not a horribly clichéd anime action, I don't know what is.

"I'm not making any promises." I replied. I turned around and took a few steps, then looked back at him. "See ya later, Zapdos." And with that, I continued to walk away.

Although apparently, later came a lot sooner than I thought, as I found myself back outside the Gym about an hour later. I let out a sigh and hung my head. Unfortunately, it didn't go unnoticed, and I saw Roark leaning against the building with a smug grin plastered on his face when I looked up again.

"Didn't I tell you you'd get lost?" he asked tauntingly. He walked up to me poked my forehead. "It's good to see you still have your stubborn streak."

I swatted at his hand again. "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. "Just because I got lost once..." I stopped. He did have a point. When it came to me finding my way around places, I never wanted help from anyone, even when I was a kid. Guess I just wanted to try and be independent, even though the number of times that plan has backfired is over nine thousand.

I heard Roark laugh quietly. "C'mon." he said. "I'll show you the way." He ruffled my hair again and started to walk away. I just stood there for a minute before I realized what was going on, and then ran to catch up to him.

Did I ever mention how completely retarded I am? I mean, getting lost on your way to a Pokemon Center that's half a mile down the street? Geez.

"How exactly did you get lost, again?" Roark asked me as we walked through the Center's doors. I could tell he was trying not to give me that stupid, arrogant grin again.

"Shut up..." I mumbled. I walked up to the front desk and was greeted by the overly happy face of Nurse Joy. "Could you heal these guys please?" I asked her. She smiled at me.

"Of course. That's what I'm here for, after all." she replied sweetly, and I handed her my three Pokeballs. As she healed my Pokemon, I looked across the Center and noticed Roark talking with a couple of younger trainers. Friends of his, perhaps?

"_Possibly," _my brain said to me, "_Considering that last I checked he's a pretty friendly guy." _I silently agreed with myself (nope, nothing weird going on there), though it struck me as a bit odd that he'd be friends with people who were probably no older than fourteen. I casually leaned against the front counter and thought about it, until a gentle tap on my shoulder snapped me back into reality. I turned around, somewhat shocked, to see the still-smiling Nurse Joy.

"Your Pokemon are as good as new." she said as she handed my Pokeballs back to me.

"Thank you so much!" I replied with a smile of my own. I took them from her, minimizing two of them and shoving them into my pocket. I took the third and released Veera, my Weavile, from it.

"Wea!" she said happily. She never did like being in her ball, so I tried to let her out as often as possible. She stretched a bit, then grinned playfully and dashed toward Roark and the trainers he was with.

"V-Veera!" I called. I shook my head. "Damn it, Vee..." I quickly followed her, and arrived just in time to see her tackle Roark to the ground and start nuzzling him.

"Hey, Veera!" he said with a laugh. He began to pet her head. "It's good to see you too."

"I didn't know you had a Weavile, Roark." one of the trainers, a boy with a Pikachu perched on his shoulder, said.

"Yeah. I thought you only trained Rock-types." The girl trainer next to him added.

Roark stood up and laughed again. "No, she's not mine." He said, looking down at Veera. "She belongs to—" He was suddenly interrupted by a tanned guy nearly knocking him over again as he dashed past and grabbed a hold of my hand.

"Oh, my fair and beautiful maiden! Have you come down from heaven to appear in my presence?"

...What the crap?

"Please, my stunning angel, would you give me the honor of knowing your name?"

I blinked. This was... Awkward. "Uh... My name's Ashura?"

"What a gorgeous name, perfectly befitting your unrivaled beau—" He was suddenly cut off by a Croagunk, which I assumed was his, using Poison Jab on his stomach. The guy fell to the floor, writhing in pain as Croagunk dragged him away by his foot.

I stood there dumbly for a minute. "Uh, what was that?" I asked, not addressing anyone in particular.

The boy with the Pikachu laughed awkwardly. "Brock does that to almost every girl he sees." He said. Ah, a flirter. I should have figured. "By the way, my name's Ash."

The girl with him smiled. "And I'm Dawn." She said.

"Um, hi guys." I replied. I was about to say something else when I heard Roark trying to hold back a laugh. I glared at him. "What's so funny?"

He snickered a bit. "'Fair and beautiful maiden'? _You?_" he said. Then he just kind of exploded into a fit of hysterical laughter. "The poor guy's deluded!"

"Gee, thanks..." I muttered, although I did kind of agree with him. I mean, I don't exactly have long, beautiful hair, a really pretty face, or anything else guys would find attractive. I'm average looking, at best. My glasses don't exactly help with that either, they make me look like an emo nerd. And... Wait, I'm completely off-track here...

Anyway, after a minute or so, Roark had calmed down enough to speak in coherent sentences.

"So Ash," he began, "What brings you back to Oreburgh?"

"Maybe he came to wipe the floor with your ass again?" I suggested. I couldn't help but grin when he glared at me. Sweet payback.

"I'll have you know I defeated Ash the first time he challenged me." He replied with a huff.

"And then he kicked your ass?"

"Ashura!"

Ash laughed a bit. "Actually, our second battle was pretty close." He said. Then he grinned and flashed the typical "victory" sign. "But I beat him in the end!"

"Pi-Pikachu!" his Pikachu added happily.

I shook my head and laughed. "I kinda figured." I replied. Then I nudged Roark with my elbow. "I just like teasing this big dork." Roark made a pouty face at this, and I just kinda did one of those girly giggle things which I will _never_ do again as long as I live.

"What about you, Ashura?" Dawn asked. "Did you battle Roark too?"

"What?" was my immediate response. I know, dumb question. No one ever said I was the brightest crayon in the box. Nor am I the sharpest. Anyway, I stood there dumbly for a second until her question clicked in my head. "Oh. Um... Yeah, I did. About an hour or so ago, actually."

"Before you got lost on the way here." Roark added. Again he tried not to give me that grin that just screams _'I told you so'._

"Silence, you!" I snapped back. Half of me wanted to strangle him for bringing that up, and the other half wanted to laugh at my own stupidity. I couldn't decide how I wanted to respond so I just glared at him. I must not have looked very threatening though, because he looked like he was about to explode into another fit of laughter. When I looked back at Ash and his friends, they were giving me one of those _'This girl's a little weird...'_ looks. Not that that surprised me. I get looks like that all the time.

Awkward silence...

"So, uh," Ash said in an attempt to revive the conversation. "Did you get a badge?"

I blinked. "Uh... yeah..." I said awkwardly. "Barely, though." I stopped. I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to say, so I quickly took a look around the center and found the nearest clock. It was still kind of early, about 10-ish, so I figured that I'd be able to at least get through the Oreburgh Gate and maybe walk about halfway down Route 203 within the next couple of days. I was about to start planning the best possible route (or rather, trying to plan. I have a horrible sense of direction, remember?) when I felt someone poke the side of my head.

Gee, I_ wonder_ who did that. (In case you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm.)

"What's up?" Roark asked curiously. "You seem kind of lost. Again."

I rolled my eyes. "Just thinking about how long it'll take me to get back to Jubilife City." I replied. "The way I see it, if I walk fast I can—"

"Hold on a second." He interrupted. "You're not going alone, are you?"

"Well, I'm not exactly planning on traveling with them." I said, pointing to Ash and his friends. I paused and looked at them. "No offense, guys."

"None taken." Ash said. Dawn nodded in agreement.

"So anyway," I continued as I looked back at Roark. "I'll be fine by myself."

He folded his arms. "Yeah, that's what you said about getting here too." He replied sternly. "And we both know how that ended up."

"Would you _shut up _about that?" I said, almost growling in the process. "Besides, it's not like you can come with me. You said it yourself; you'd need someone to take your place at the Gym."

He paused for a minute. "I forgot about that..." he mumbled.

"How could you forget?" I asked. "I mean, that's your_ job_."

He sighed, then looked away from me with this look on his face... I don't really know how to describe it. It was kind of like one of those defeated "damn, she's right" looks, but it was also kind of... discouraged.

Wait. Did he just blatantly disregard his job in favor of traveling around with me? Did he actually _want_ to, and not just be a human map to make sure I didn't get lost? Why the hell am I asking you?

"You know, I could probably help with your problem." A voice from behind me commented. I turned around and saw that Brock guy standing there. It kind of startled me. Where had he been this entire time? More importantly, when the hell did he get _back_ from wherever it was that his Croagunk dragged him off to?

"That's right!" Ash said as if he had suddenly been hit with the brick-filled plush doll of realization. "Brock was a Gym Leader in Kanto! He could take your place, Roark."

Roark's face lit up like a white shirt under a black light. "Seriously?" he asked. No shortage of excitement there. "Would you?"

Brock shrugged. "Why not?" he replied. "It's been a while since I took the role of a Gym Leader. And besides," He smiled in my direction. "I wouldn't want this lovely lady to get lost and never return."

"I'd find my way eventually..." I mumbled as I folded my arms. I probably would have started pouting (or something), but Roark was being so damn cute and excited that I couldn't help but smile.

Something in the back of my mind told me he was using me as an excuse to be able to travel.


End file.
